Where do we go from here?
by Ygomez05
Summary: Ash, May, Max and Brock get an unexpected call from an old friend,resulting in an unexpected vacation and some shocking turn of events. Advanceshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here's my first fanfic. Hopefully you guys enjoy, don't get too bored and continue to read the story as it develops. Thanks again.**

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><p>"After all my hard work.." Ash said, with his yellow companion on his shoulder, trying to cheer his best friend up.<p>

"Chu.." Pikachu said, as he gently shoved his trainer's shoulder trying to get his attention.

"Pikachu's right Ash, you did your best. Steven was just a bit better, but that's what you'd expect from Hoenn's champion, so there's nothing you should be disappointed about, we're proud of you, right guys?" the brunette said while turning back at the rest of the group, keying them in to help out.

Brock, knowing what can happen when someone got on May's bad side, having spent the past year traveling with her and her younger brother Max, quickly complied with May's gesture "Yeah Ash, you can always try again some other time."

Max just nodded his head and let out a low "Mhmm."

The young trainer wasn't hearing it though. He had been to focused on what had just transpired that he had no intention of listening to the words his friends were saying, no matter how comforting they actually were.

The trees were breezing slightly, as the sunshine slowly began to descend. The day had been an absolute beauty. The sun shining brightly across the road, a slight breeze was coming in from the west, the sky a clear and breath taking sight, and the pokemon frolicking around enjoying the day, seeming to reflect what mother nature had presented them with. You couldn't ask for a better day. Sadly, Ash's mood seemed to be the complete opposite of what the day was showing to be.

The walk back to the Pokemon center had been much quieter than most were hoping. Sensing the awkward silence of the moment and the gloomy mood being let out by the rest of the gang, May decided to break the ice and speak up, "So Ash, what're you going to do now?"

Finally easing up his mood he looked at May, "I'm going to keep training and come back again tomorrow," he said as he gave her a half smile.

"Well looks like Ash is finally back to his old self," May said while shaking her head.

Brock and Max let out a small chuckle as the tension felt in the group started to ease up.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to call Professor Oak though to see if i can get a bit of reinforcement though, Steven won't know what hit him 'em this time," Ash said as he placed both his hands behind his head, "Who should I bring back though.."

The gang finally arrived to the pokemon center, where Ash ran in to head for the nearest computer. May, Brock and Max walked in moments later and walked over to where Ash was. He had already marked the number and had just sent the call to Professor Oak's lab. To much of the group's surprise, the elderly professor they were expecting to see wasn't the one greeting them. Instead, a young girl with short orange hair, and bright green eyes was on the computer screen.

"Hey you guys!" Misty said with a giant smile on her face, seeing as she hadn't seen her friends in quite some time.

"Oh.. Hey there Misty," Ash replied as there was a row of confused faces on Ash's side of the phone call.

"Not that we're not happy to see you Misty, but what exactly are you doing in Professor Oak's lab," added Brock.

"Hehe, yeah I'm sure you're all wondering that, based on the puzzled looks on your faces. Well, my sisters surprised me with giving me a little break from the gym, saying that I hadn't really been doing much since I had taken over the gym again. So as soon as I got that news, I quickly packed up my bags and made my way to Pallet Town, hoping you guys weren't too far away. Unfortunately I was wrong, but how are you guys doing?"

Being reminded of what had happened, Ash's face went from confused to depressed as he faced away from the screen.

"He's just a bit upset he couldn't beat Hoenn's champion, Steven," May said with a sigh. "But he's determined to go back tomorrow and get a rematch. You know how Ash is."

Letting out a small chuckle, "Well I honestly think that he's worked pretty hard and should take a little break from all the battling. I think you all should. Which brings me to the real reason as to why I came to Pallet Town," She finished with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, you never really did tell us why you chose Pallet Town of all places for a vacation," Brock pointed out as the rest of the gang was listening intently.

"Well part of it has to do with you guys coming back to Pallet Town as soon as possible," she flashed a smile as she saw the groups reaction to her last comment.

Ash was the first to speak, "No way! I'm not leaving until I get my rematch with Steven!"

"Oh come on Ash, we actually do need a break, and I'm curious to see what Kanto is like," the brunette said with almost pleading eyes.

"Yeah Ash, May has a point. Plus, it wouldn't be so bad to see our family again, or did you forget you had a mother?" Brock told him while raising an eyebrow.

By this time, Max and Pikachu had gotten bored of the whole situation and were playing outside the pokemon center, "There's no way im going all the way back home without getting my rematch," Ash told the two, seeming a bit more upset.

"Please Ash," May asked the trainer, as she gave him her best puppy eye look she could let out while she placed her hands together and up close to her face, creating a sight that would make anyone melt on the spot.

Ash had never quite noticed how beautiful the brunette's eyes really were until he saw the hopeless expression on her face at the moment. "_Those eyes are just breaking me right now. Its actually.. sort of... cute._" but before his thoughts could trail any further, he snapped out of it and let out a soft "Fine."

"Oh yipee!" May jumped up in joy as Brock let out a smile and Ash crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well than its settled," Misty spoke, reminding the gang that she was still on the line, "I made sure to check while you guys were discussing what to do, and the next ferry to Pallet Town actually leaves tomorrow morning. you guys might want to get a good night's sleep, the ferry leaves at 7. See you when you guys get back!" Misty gave a quick wink and just like that, she was gone.

Taking a step towards the door Brock turned back to the two teens,"I'll go let Max know what's going on," as he left through the doors.

"I'm so excited now!" May let out while clapping her hands together.  
>"Yeah, yeah.." the less enthusiastic trainer replied. "<em>Boy what have i gotten myself into<em>," Ash thought as he shook his head.

May made her way to Ash, spread her arms out wide and embraced the young trainer, "Thanks again Ash." a small blush was starting to come across the young girl's face before she quickly let go of Ash and went to go find Max, Brock, and Pikachu.

"_Hmm, guess it probably won't be too bad.._" Ash thought as he shook off the blush that he felt was coming on, "_Oh boy, that loss to Steven sure is messing with my head._"

Ash began to make his way back to his friends who were waiting for him so they could all go and get ready for their long trip back home.

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><p><strong>Well, I know it's a bit short, but I just wanted to give you guys a little intro. I promise to make the next one longer. I'm not quite sure as to when I'll get to the next chapter but hopefully in a day or two I'll post it up. I'd appreciate it if you guys would review it and let me know where I can improve. Thanks again.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took kind of long to update. This is harder than I thought haha. Well, here's chapter 2, hope you guys enjoy. Please review so that I know where I can improve. Thanks again!**

The sun was beaming through the glass window. Our young trainer could only grunt as he turned away from the sunlight. Ash knew exactly what was about to come and he braced himself. "_Any second now... 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1..._"

Just then, he heard footsteps getting closer. Through the door of his room, the brunette burst in, skipping happily until she came to a halt, "Oh Ash, its time to wake up now!"

"_I'm getting better at this_.." Ash thought as he let out a deep sight before turning to May, "Five more minutes."

"Ash, the ferry leaves in an hour! You're the only one who isn't ready yet," May walked over to Ash and crossed her arms, "You don't want me to get some help do you?" A grin flashing across the brunette's face.

"I'm up," and just like that Ash got to his feet in record time as he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead. Last time he had told her five more minutes, he faced his biggest battle yet. Gary and Steven were nothing compared to the battle Ash faced against May's tickling abilities.

Ash turned back to the bed he was sleeping on and noticed his fuzzy companion still snugged up under the covers. He went over and gave his buddy a little shove, "We've got to get going Pikachu."

The tiny electric mouse slowly started picking up his head, "Chaaa..." He looked more asleep then awake as he fell off the bed and groggily climbed on his trainer's shoulder.

After Pikachu had gotten up, Ash was quick to get ready. He hopped in the shower and began to think about the day ahead, "_Why does Misty want us to head back so bad. I mean its not like I wouldn't mind going back home and all, but it's just kind of odd that she wants us to head back so out of the blue_." Ash finished with his shower and finished getting ready, "Guess I'll find out soon enough." With Ash ready to leave, he got his bag, placed his signature hat on his head and went to join the rest of the gang.

"It's about time!" May shouted as she saw the tired looking trainer approach them. "You almost made us miss the ferry Ash Ketchum!"

"Morning guys," Ash mumbled through the weariness of his voice.

"Morning.." the small boy and older male responded in unison. You could tell that Ash wasn't the only one who got a visit from May early that morning. The smaller boy was falling asleep as they started to walk, and Brock was so tired that when they passed by a decent looking girl, all he could get out was, "Hey there good..." before they were already a few feet ahead of the girl. May on the other hand was skipping jubilantly towards the dock, way ahead of the rest of the gang.

"What's got her so excited?" Brock asked the other two boys.

Ash just shrugged his shoulders, "Beats me." Pikachu repeated Ash's previous motion as well, "Pi."

The gang finally reached the dock and purchased their tickets to Pallet Town. They didn't want to get separated so they asked the guy from the ticket booth if he could book their rooms close to each other. Ash and Pikachu had room 3, May and Max room 5 and Brock room 6. Since the trip back to Pallet Town was a bit long, the ferry was quite large. Thankfully they we're all a few inches from each other, if not they would have had problems staying together.

The group each went to check out their rooms. They agreed they would settle their things down and then meet outside their doors to go grab a bite to eat. Ash walked in to his pretty accommodated room. It had one queen sized bed, a desk, a window that allowed him to see the boat's deck, a medium sized flat screen and a private bathroom and shower. Ash let his things down on the floor and fell flat on the bed, with Pikachu doing the same thing. "Ahh.. Now it's starting to feel like vacation," Pikachu smiled and nodded to his trainer, "Pikaaa." Before they could get any more comfortable though, they heard a knock on the door.

"Ash you ready? We're gonna start heading down to eat some breakfast."

The thought of food seemed to be just the jolt Ash needed to hop right out of bed and run towards the door, "Wait for me!" Pikachu sighed and went after Ash.

Once they were all together, they headed down to get their breakfast. As they started to get closer to the dining hall, the aroma of freshly baked blueberry muffins, pancakes and bacon hit the two teens. If there was a scout for the Olympics on the ship, he'd be in awe at the sight of the two teens running down to find what their noses had already found. Poor Pikachu was hanging on to dear life. Ash and May were at the kitchen in seconds, with the yellow mouse just trying to regain himself. His fur looked as if he had just woken up. Brock and Max just shook their heads and continued at their normal pace and shortly arrived after.

"I don't ever want to get in the way of those two and food', Brock said as Max nodded in agreement, "You can say that again."

May was finishing her first plate, while Ash was already back with his second plate when Brock and Max had gotten to the table. Ash seemed to have found his strength again and May was just happily enjoying her food. The gang had been there for about thirty minutes, conversing about whatever seemed to cross the other one's mind. "I wonder if there are any strong trainers here," Ash said as he looked around to the other tables.

"I swear Ash; all you think about is battling, even when you're on vacation." May seemed a little annoyed as she said that.

"Well that's good old Ash for you," Brock told the young brunette.

After they had all finished with their food, they walked around the rest of the ferry. The guys all gulped when they came across the pool as they knew what was coming next. As if on cue, May gasped and turned to the sluggish looking guys behind her, "Guys they even have a pool!" May clapped her hands together and started pushing the guys in the direction of their rooms. You could tell what May had in plan. She never seemed to shy away from being the happy, jubilant, free spirited girl that she was.

When the gang arrived back at their rooms May gave out the orders, "Alright, you guys have 10 minutes to change and then we're off to the pool!" The defeated boys just nodded while May let out a perfect smile at them. When Ash saw this, he couldn't help but let out a smile of his own. He always thought May had a flawless looking smile, but as of late he felt differently when she smiled. Ash, however, never got into deep thought about it and always found a way to shake it off.

After the ten minutes were up, the guys were all standing outside their doors, on time, just as May asked. Brock wearing blue swimming trunks, Max was wearing green swimming trunks and Ash was wearing black trunks. Each of the guys had a towel over their shoulder. Pikachu seemed to be the only one enthusiastic about heading down to the pool as he had a pair of black shades on and an excited grin on his face. Unsurprising to the guys, it was May who was tardy. Another five minutes passed before May came out wearing a red two piece. Once she had come out, they all walked back to the pool where most of the people from the boat seemed to be.

May was in the water playing games with Max, while Ash and Pikachu laid on some chairs and tried to relax for a while. To no surprise, Brock was running around trying to talk to the girls hanging out by the pool. May and Max giggled when they say Brock walk back with a defeated demeanor and his head hung low. "It's just not fair, I'll never find my girl," Brock mumbled as he walked back to Ash and Pikachu. The two were actually enjoying their time at the beach, just relaxing under the cool shade, no one to disturb them. Just then May and Max walked back to the rest of the group and took a seat next to Ash and Pikachu.

"Finally Ash is taking this like an actual vacation," May spoke with a smile on her face.

Brock joined the young trainer in her smile, "Yeah, he really does work too hard. But that's probably why he's achieved everything he has in such a short amount of time," a sense of pride reaching the rest of the group.

Just then, as if they heard what the two were talking about, a boy came and stood in front of the seat where Ash and Pikachu were laying on, "Ash Ketchum, I challenge you to a battle!"

As soon as the mysterious kid said battle, Ash and Pikachu's ears twitched and they got up in an instant. "You're on!" as Ash grinned at the newly met trainer.

"Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut," May smacked herself in the forehead as she let a sigh out.

The rest of the people on deck made space for the two trainers to battle. Ash looked to his best friend, "You up for this one buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and got ready.

"So you're using Pikachu. Not bad, but he's not gonna be able to beat my Mightyena!" the trainer threw a pokeball into the air, and a black and grey dog came out, letting out a growl as he faced in front of Pikachu.

The battle started and it was pretty even at the beginning. Both pokemon were able to hit their opponents with some attacks. Mightyena had been unleashing a series of Shadow Balls. Pikachu was able to dodge them until he got closer to Mightyena and unleashed a powerful Iron Tail.

"Good job Pikachu! Keep it up!" Ash was cheering his Pikachu on as the crowd looked on intently.

Mightyena was able to get up and use quick attack to get a hit on Pikachu. the battle eventually finished after Pikachu let out a thunder that caused many of the passengers to panic and head for cover. Ash looked sheepishly as he saw a dark spot of the deck where the thunder had hit. He knew the crew wouldn't be too happy about that, but he went over to shake the trainer's hand.

"That was a good battle, your Mightyena is really tough," Ash said as he held out his hand.

"Yeah, your Pikachu is really strong too, but we'll get him next time. By the way, my names Troy," the trainer said as he shook Ash's hand and let out a grin.

"Nice to meet you, Troy. Where are you heading?"

By this time, May and company had made their way to where Ash and Troy were. "Well I'm stopping by Cerulean City, how about you guys?"

"Well, we're heading to Pallet Town. We're sort of on vacation," Ash replied.

As the gang said their goodbyes to Troy, they noticed it was already dark and decided to call it a night. They got to their rooms, said goodnight to each other and walked into their room. Ash went in and quickly went to get ready for bed. He was much more exhausted then he thought. "_Maybe everybody's right, maybe we have been training too hard_," Ash thought. When he was done getting ready for bed, he went and crawled into the sheets with Pikachu not far behind.

To Ash's surprise, he couldn't fall asleep. He found himself rolling in bed, for no good reason at all, for a few hours. He looked at the clock and it said 2. He got up to get a glass of water and when he passed by the window, he saw a girl standing by the edge of the deck of the ferry. When he got closer, he noticed it was May. "Huh? What's May doing out of her room at this time," the boy thought to himself. He decided to go find out as he out on his pants and went to the ferry's deck. When he got outside he immediately shivered. He realized how cold it was, especially since he was wearing a short sleeve shirt. He wondered why May wasn't cold since she was also wearing a short sleeve shirt.

"Hey May," Ash let out as the girl turned around almost scared to death.

May calmed down a bit and smiled once she saw who was in front of her. "Oh Ash, it's only you."

"Yeah, how come you're here all alone?" He asked her with a determined look on his face.

"Well I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come out here and look out at the sky. It's beautiful actually."

"Y-Yeah I guess, I mean, if you're into stuff like that."

"It reminds me of home actually. When I was younger, I used to have trouble sleeping. Whenever I couldn't sleep, I went out to a hill nearby our house in Pettalsburg and just stood up at the sky," May started to smile as she continued, "It always seemed to calm me down and slowly rocked me to sleep."

Both of them just stood there in silence, staring up at the night sky. The sky was being illuminated by thousands of bright dots that seemed to mask the sky from its true nature. Each dot had its glow, different to the one next to it. Ash found himself in amazement, it really was a sight to see, and he now saw why May had come out to begin with. He found himself slowly finding the sleep he had lacked when he was in bed. The night sky seemed to soothe both trainers. Before he was about to fall asleep on the spot, he was woken up by light thud he felt on his shoulder. He turned to see that May had laid her head on his shoulder. He didn't know how to respond as he was shocked that she was actually laying on his shoulder. He felt his face heat up a bit but shook it off.

May was enjoying this moment of tranquility when she realized it herself that she was on Ash's shoulder. She started to blush immediately and thought about picking her head up, but her drowsiness wouldn't allow it. For that moment in time, May felt at complete ease. She felt at though the rest of the world had disappeared. She had completely forgotten what had happened that day, or that they were on a ferry. For May, this was a moment of absolute perfection. Her heart was beating slightly faster than normal, and once she realized it, she went into thought, "I feel like all of this is just a dream, like if soon Max is going to walk up and wake me up and all of this is going to..." She couldn't finish. A breeze came in that automatically made both trainers shiver down to their spine.

"I think we should get going May, before we both wake up sick to tomorrow," Ash told the brunette coordinator as he gave her a trademark Ash Ketchum smile.

"Yeah you're right; I'm kind of tired too." May replied back, flashing back one of her trademark May Maple smiles.

The two trainers walked back together to their rooms, neither of them saying a word until they got back.

"Well good night," May told Ash as she gave him one last smile and went inside.

"Good night." Ash said to himself as he walked into his room, still smiling.

**Mini cliffhanger, eh? Haha, well thanks to those who read, once again please review and help me out here. There's still A LOT, left in the story and suggestions wouldn't hurt. Chapter 3 will be up soon, I promise. .**


	3. Chapter 3

**I feel so bad for taking so long to update. I didn't think it would be this hard to work on it while still doing all my school duties. Thanks for being patient, and I hope you like it. Please review so that I know what to fix for the next one.**

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><p>The next morning, everyone had been up bright and early. The ferry was supposed to be docking in the morning so they all decided to be up and ready by 8. This way they could have some breakfast before they started to be on their way to Ash's home. While Brock and Max were ready to go down for breakfast, May, Ash and Pikachu were still sound asleep. The two teens had been exhausted, having spent quite some time out on the dock the previous night. Brock and Max had been knocking on Ash and May's doors respectively, but of course to no avail. The two youngsters were knocked out cold. After about an hour of trying to wake the two up, Brock and Max decided to just go and get their breakfast for now.<p>

"I wish they would wake up already, we'll be docking pretty soon," Brock said, as he and Max made their way down to the dining room. Max nodded his head as he seemed to be a bit worried about his sister. The two arrived to their table and but were barely able to eat anything, both still worried about their companions waking up.

There was a peace and tranquility being felt in the air that May was enjoying to the best of her ability. The silence was welcoming, and the softness of her pillow only made it harder on her to wake up. All she could think of, was how comfortable and cozy she was under her sheets. The peace May was feeling was one that could only be accomplished spending the night in the woods, as far away from civilization as possible. She would have never imagined that on a ferry with this many people, she would find this peace and harmony. ***THUD***. Just like that, it was over.

Apparently, May had been tossing around her bed all night. When she was finally able to find some sleep, half her body was dangling off the side of the bed. May couldn't seem to remember exactly what she had been dreaming about, but she remembered seeing someone extend their hand out to her, as if to help her get out of her bed. All she could see though was the person's silhouette. When she finally grew the courage to take the stranger's hand, she flipped over and smacked hard onto the wooden floor, face first.

"Ow!" May yelled, as she got up, holding her now reddened right cheek. "_Ugh, feels like i only slept for a couple of minutes_," she thought as she looked around and saw that no one was in the room besides herself. She was confused because she thought she would have found her brother sleeping on the bed next to her. She was so tired, she thought she woke up extremely early, not realizing that she had actually overslept. After she went to the washroom to freshen up, she came back to see that the time was 10. She quickly got her things ready and ran out the door, panicking. Once she was outside her room, she didn't know exactly what to do. Even though she was sure they had all left, she decided to check Ash's room to see if by some chance he had overslept too.

While May was having her troubles sleeping, Ash had been sleeping like a baby. Tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, all of which had no effect on Ash when it came to his sleep. If there were two things Ash loved, they were sleeping and eating. He was so sound asleep, that he had tumbled over the bed as well, but unlike May, he didn't seem to care at all. He snuggled up closer to his comfortable wooden pillow and drifted back to sleep. Since he had fallen to the side opposite the door, when May walked in, she didn't think anyone was inside. She suddenly felt a sense of abandonment. She couldn't believe that her friends would actually just leave her like that. May moved closer to the bed and sat on the edge. "I can't believe they would just leave me here. Why wouldn't they come and wake me up," May said in a low voice. May had always been a bit sensitive so she started to feel her eyes get watery.

Just then, she felt someone grab her shoulder. Her first reaction would be considered normal, as she jumped up and screamed. Her second reaction was a bit harsher than her first. Ash could only try and duck and cover. Unfortunately, he was just a tad too late. ***SMACK***. Moments later Ash was on the floor grabbing his face while May looked on with a huge amount of guilt on her hands, literally. Not only was Ash's cheek bright red, but May's hand was just as red. She hadn't realized just how hard she smacked Ash until she felt her hand start to hurt as well.

"Oh gosh Ash, I can't believe I did that to your face," May said with the biggest apologetic face she could put on.

Ash, still rubbing his right cheek, just gave May a heart warm smile that only made the brunette feel even worse than before, "Don't worry about it May. That slap to the face wasn't anything compared to the ones Misty would give me." Ash seemed to remember why they were on the ferry to begin with as he quickly added, "By the way, what time is it? And where is everybody?"

"That's the reason I came in here. We overslept and when I woke up, I couldn't find Max or Brock, so I decided to come here and check if you were at least still here." Ash looked around until he found the clock in his room and got up quickly after he realized what time it was.

"The ferry should be docking real soon. If we don't get out of here soon we're going to miss the stop at Kanto!"

Both Ash and May made record time with their showers, and once they were out they proceeded to gather their things. When Ash was done, he looked back to the bed and saw that Pikachu was still fast asleep. He thought it was a bit strange that after all the ruckus May and Ash had made, Pikachu was still sleeping through it all. Pikachu wasn't really known for being a heavy sleeper. He looked at the clock and realized he had no time to go through the process of waking up Pikachu, so he just scooped him up in his arms and went out the door. May was having a similar few minutes excluding the Pikachu part. She had organized her stuff and finished getting ready. When she was done packing her bags she headed outside her room to meet with Ash. May opened her door and saw Ash leaning against the wall with the yellow mouse quietly snoring in his arms.

May walked up closer to Ash and waved her hand in his face, "You ready to go Ash? You look so out of it."

Ash seemed to be taken by surprise by May's question, but quickly snapped out of it and gave May a half smile, "Y-yeah let's get going before the ferry leaves. I already heard the captain say that we've docked."

"Wait what about Max and Brock though," a worried expression starting to come onto the brunette's face.

"Don't worry about it; they're probably waiting for us out on the dock." Ash had always been good at cheering up May when she needed it the most. He gave her a big grin and hoped to see a smile come back on her face too. While she did smile back, he could still see the bit of concern between the smile she gave him. Ash seemed to know May more than she probably knew herself. They'd been traveling for such a long time, that neither of them had remembered much about their lives before they travelled together. They had pretty much been through it all, and neither one ever left the other when they needed them most. Anyone who met them for the first time would ask if they were childhood friends by the way in which they knew so much about each other. Some of the people they've met and travelled with along the way even made the assumption that they were a couple. Both were quick to deny the assumption, and seemed to blush at the synchronizing sound of their voices.

After a few minutes, May reacted and the two teens were on their way to the dock. They felt a bit better knowing that they didn't have to rush anymore. The ferry would depart again in 20 minutes, giving them plenty of time to walk from their rooms to the dock. As they were walking, their mood seemed to brighten up. The two were talking about how exciting it was going to be to be in Pallet Town. Ash was excited to see his pokemon, while May was curious to meet all the new types that she would find there. She was also excited to meet Ash's mom as well as see where the raven haired trainer started. After all, May met Ash when she was just beginning her journey. Ever since that moment, Ash has been like a mentor to May. He's taught her everything he possibly could and May always looked up to him for that. She even felt a sense of comfort whenever she was with him, and seemed to be missing something whenever she wasn't with him.

While the two continued to walk, they realized that the ferry had completely been evacuated. Every hall and room they walked past was completely empty. For a moment, the two thought they were the only two humans around the area. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

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><p>"Brock I'm starting to get really worried. We need to go back and get them." Concern was written all over the young boy's face. Both Brock and Max had finished their breakfast and got off the ferry once it arrived. They were both hoping that Ash and May would casually walk out the ferry but, time continued to pass and there was no sign of the two young trainers.<p>

"You're not the only one who's worried Max, but you're right. If they don't show up in another 5 minutes, we'll go back in there and find them." The young boy seemed to partially cheer up after Brock helped to make him feel better. As the minutes passed by, slower and slower, second by second, the anxiety began eating the two of them away. Finally they decided they had waited enough and decided to go look for their friends. They made their way back to the ferry but before they could go back inside a man appeared seemingly out of nowhere and stopped right in from of them.

"I'm sorry but no one's allowed in the ferry while the crew is cleaning it up." The man who spoke to them was pretty young. He was tall and slim, wore a gold and blue uniform that resembled the one the crew wore, and seemed to be in his early twenties.

"Oh, it's just that two of our friends are still inside and we wanted to go and look for them," Brock politely told the young man. The whole time, Max was hiding behind Brock's leg. He didn't trust the young man much and got a weird vibe from him.

The young man looked confused and scratched his head, "Huh? The only people left are the members of the crew. We make sure to check for any people left on the ferry before we start cleaning it up."

Just then, the captain was heard over the loudspeaker. "Code red, all crew members please report to the control room.

"Oh, looks like I have to get going; wait here though, I'll go and look for your friends," the young man said, and disappeared in a flash into the ferry.

"Brock what did that guy mean that there's no one left on the boat? Where else could Ash and May be. Please tell me he's lying, he has to be!" Max was almost in sobs as the concern on his face only grew.

Trying to remain calm and optimistic Brock gave Max a small smile, "I'm sure there's just a misunderstanding. We'll find them Max, don't worry."

A couple of minutes passed and the young crew member was nowhere to be seen. Although it was only a few minutes, it felt like a few hours to both Max and Brock. The breeder wasn't as calm and optimistic as he was a few minutes ago, seeing that there was no sign of the man who was just there minutes before. Both had thought about entering the ferry again mow that the young man had left, but right before they were about to enter he came back out, just as expressionless as the first time he showed up. "Well I'm sorry to say that your friends are actually nowhere to be found. I took the liberty of checking myself and I didn't see them anywhere. They probably got off when you guys weren't looking. I'm sorry I can't help any more than that, but we're setting sail in a few minutes, so I've got to go. Goodbye." Just like that, the boy was off, leaving a pair of pale faces, one with watery eyes, the other with horror on his face.

Had Ash and May really left the ferry without Brock or Max noticing? Were they even still on the ferry that morning? Where the two of them could had possibly gone escaped their mind. The thought that they might not had actually been on the ferry that morning seemed to trouble them most of all. Both Max and Brock just sat there thinking about what to do, until Max had lost his patience.

"Brock we can't just sit here and do nothing! For all we know something could have happened to them. We won't even know for sure if we just stand here," the poor kid was more stressed than a regular child should be at that moment. Brock was so lost into thought that he didn't even hear what the young boy said to him. He began pacing back and forth until finally turning to Max, "We've got to go find them."

* * *

><p>Ash and May had been walking for a couple of minutes. Once again, they couldn't believe just how huge the ferry actually was. They were actually quite tired of all the walking they had to do during their two days on the ferry. Ash was still trying to wake Pikachu up, but to no avail. Ash was beginning to get worried but before he could think any further, he felt himself suddenly falling. If it wasn't for his good reflexes, Ash and Pikachu would have fallen face first onto the wooden floor. May looked back as she heard a hard thud. When she turned back Ash was picking himself up from the floor. She couldn't help but giggle, seeing as how funny Ash looked trying to hold on to the wall with one hand and Pikachu with the other.<p>

"Hahaha.. Ash you really should.. Hahahah.. be more careful," May said between chuckles.

Ash gave May an evil glare as she saw herself struggling to contain herself, "Very funny May." in the end Ash ended up laughing too, seeing as how it was pretty funny from May's point of view.

Right when Ash turned down to tie his shoe, which was the cause of his previous predicament, May put her hands on her hand and started to walk towards the direction of the dock. She found herself thinking about the previous night. For some reason her face started to get warm. Before she knew it, a full out blush had appeared on her face. Even though she couldn't quite explain it, all she could do was smile, thinking back at the moment she had with Ash. It felt like a dream to her because of the perfection of the moment. She couldn't contain the happiness she was feeling inside and let out a small giggle. Just then, she remembered that Ash still hadn't caught up with her after trying his shoe. She turned around and her face dropped. She felt her bags fall off her shoulder and her eyes begin to water. Before thinking, she just ran. She ran to the unconscious boy who was neither moving nor breathing. At this moment May's heart dropped and she broke down. Before she could reach Ash though, she heard a quiet bang, as smoke began to blind her vision. She started to get real drowsy and her eyes suddenly felt extremely heavy. "Ash.." was all she could make out before she was out cold.

All she could remember was the haze that separated Ash from her. She remembered starting to run towards him before she fell to the ground. After she fell, she couldn't bring herself to remember anything more after that. The last thing she saw was a figure pick up both Ash and Pikachu and throw them onto its shoulder. May now opened her eyes. She couldn't see a thing. She was laying on a cold sleek floor. She started to have a mini anxiety attack as she had no idea where she was or what had happened. She pulled herself up against the wall and curled up as she held her legs close to her chest with her arms. The young brunette could only sob, she was alone and in the dark, having no idea what was going on. Sob, that's all she could do. "Alone," May thought. As if a light bulb flashed over her head she remembered about Ash.

"Ash! Ash where are you!" May began to scream out his name. At first she was fine with accepting the fact that she was alone, but she didn't want to just give up like that. She wanted to believe that he was with her, but still unconscious and so she started to feel around the floor for the young trainer. She kept calling his name as she moved around the room she seemed to be in. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see slightly better than before. He was nowhere to be seen, and she could be optimistic for so long. She crawled back to her wall and the tears began to roll down her cheeks. May felt abandoned; she felt powerless. She felt hopeless not being able to do anything for herself or Ash; poor Ash. He needed her and she couldn't help him. The thought of this only made May feel worse than before. She cried hysterically now, barely being able to control herself. Just then she heard a familiar voice.

"Try not to smack me this time," as the boy put his hand on the girl's shoulder.

* * *

><p>"Officer Jenny, what are we gonna do? We can't just stand here and do nothing. You've got to do something to help us find them!" Max had completely been taken back by the way in which Brock was talking to the attractive female officer. Usually Brock would use one of his many, ends-with-getting-pulled-by-the-ear-by-either-Max-May-Misty-or-InsertCharacterHere, lines to woe her. This time was different though. Brock was completely serious and at times actually looked like he was getting mad at the officer.<p>

"Listen, I understand that you're worried about your friends, but there isn't much we can do. For all we know, your friends could be waiting for you guys somewhere, safe and sound," responded Officer Jenny.

"I really don't think that's the case. My gut is telling me that they could be in some serious danger. We have to at least try something, whether it be with your help or not!"

"Alright, we'll start putting up some flyers, but for now that's all that we can do. You two should go check into the pokemon center to rest. You guys look exhausted," Officer Jenny told the, while trying to give them a war, smile. She knew they weren't having it though. At this point, it would take a lot more than a smile from her to change their moods.

Both Brock and Max had decided they wouldn't go anywhere near Ash's house until they could figure this entire thing out. They weren't about to go off to meet Misty at Ash's house without Ash himself. They also thought it would be best not to tell Misty because it would be too risky. Delia might find out and the last thing they needed was a worried Ash's mom. For the time being, Brock and Max were on their own. They both completely disregarded their own feeling though and were more worried about their friends. "Don't worry Ash, we'll find you guys. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

><p><strong>So how was that for a bit of a cliffhanger? Haha, I was hoping to sort of give you an idea of where this could possibly be going without giving too much. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. The next chapter will be up way sooner than this one was.<strong>


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